The Signal Vol. 87 No. 13

SGA IN REVIEW

CREEPY EXPO

ARIS BRIGGS

BLOTTER

Here’s what your reps have done this fall — and how they assess their own performance.

From human bones to haunted dolls, the Oddities Expo isn’t your average market.

How the men’s soccer forward came to love the sport and lead his team in goals.

COMIC

PAGE 14

SUDOKU

PAGE 14

NEWS PAGE 4

ARTS & LIVING

PAGE 12

SPORTS PAGE 16

PAGE 2

VOL. 87 | NO. 13

NOV. 19 - DEC. 3, 2019

WHY NO.2?

On the heels of the CMII and academic assistance programs, Georgia State has soared to the national No. 2 spot in innovation, right behind Arizona State. But what exactly makes us innovative? And why are we only No. 2?

ILLUSTRATION BY ERIN DAVISON AND JACY SHEPARD

@gsusignal

georgiastatesignal.com

THE SIGNAL

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

BLOTTER NOV. 8

Josh, you CAN’T put a fork in a microwave

At the University Lofts at 3:19 p.m., a Georgia State staff member submitted a report about a fire or smoke and non-criminal damage to property.

Clarkston theft — part one

In the Clarkston campus N Building, there was a reported theft of $1,500 or less at 12:30 a.m. The victim was a person not associated with Georgia State.

And here’s part two…

A Georgia State student was the

victim of theft by deception on the Clarkston campus in Lot 2 at 5:58 p.m.

NOV. 11

License? Never heard of it

A non-Georgia State offender was arrested for driving without a license on Edgewood Avenue and Park Place at 10:07 a.m.

Campus carry, bro

A non-Georgia State offender was arrested at W Lot for carrying weapons on school property, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and obstruction of police at 6:49 p.m.

ILLUSTRATION BY LOGAN CASE | THE SIGNAL

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

Teyana Taylor performs for a sold-out show at the West End Production Park for Red Bull’s last day of their music festival.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

www.georgiastatesignal.com/news

WHAT DOES NO. 2 MOST INNOVATIVE IN THE NATION MEAN? How Student Success played a role in topping the ranks IMANI DENNIS Staff Reporter

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eorgia State has not wasted time showcasing that it was ranked No. 1 in teaching and No. 2 in innovation by U.S. News & World Report for 2019. The university spent about $318,000 on advertisements just to feature that achievement in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

But what exactly do these rankings mean?

To start, both of the rankings are determined on a survey of top presidents, provosts and admissions at colleges and universities across the country. A school has to receive seven or more nominations in ordered to be considered.

Regarding the undergraduate teaching ranking, the survey respondent has to rank a school in their top 15 in order for the school to be considered.

The innovation ranking doesn’t just apply to technology or sciences but also curriculum, campus life, faculty and facilities.

U.S. News describes the reasons for Georgia State’s innovation ranking include the 200 majors and minors offered, the Freshman Learning Communities program and the more than 400 student organizations offered. Students even have the ability to give input in the planning of new university-wide programs and ideas.

“The university is committed to research in its centers and institutes, where students can get involved and present their work at the annual Undergraduate Research Conference,” the US News report stated.

“I believe that restructuring our universities to better serve all students and drive student success is absolutely essential to the future of higher education and the modern university,” Georgia State University President Mark Becker said in a press release.

The Student Success Center has been led by Timothy Renick since 2008. Renick started at Georgia State as a chair of the department of religious studies and director of the Honors Program before entering his current position as the senior vice president for Student Success.

Renick’s direction for Student Success has helped with the “fastest improving graduation rates in the nation and the elimination of all achievement gaps based on students’ race, ethnicity or income level,” according to his biography on the Student Success website.

Student Success has pushed a number of initiatives to increase student engagement, including the Success Academy and the chatbot Pounce.

Success Academy was started in 2012 as an alternative to deferring rejected applicants — giving them a second chance

to become a Panther. These students spend time in the summer working with tutors, financial literacy and academic skills programs, all while enrolling in seven credits’ worth of college classes.

Darien Dawson, a Georgia State graduate, attended Success Academy in the summer of 2013.

“The [Success Academy] staff was standing by and willing to help when I needed it,” Dawson said. “The friends I made in the program are friends I still have now, but the only thing the program did not prepare me for was the full-swing semester, so it was still stressful in the fall.”

Dawson also observed that many people in the program did not take advantage of what it had to offer.

“There was no system set in place to hold us accountable to show up for meetings with our cohorts, so it was up to us to take advantage of the program,” he said.

Pounce, the automated chatbot, sends and answers thousands of questions via text messages to all incoming and current Georgia State students. These messages include answering questions about financial aid and immunization documents, placement exams and class registration.

Sinclaire Johnson, a senior at Georgia State, said she rarely notices the notifications she receives.

“I definitely understand how the chatbot could be helpful, but in my years attending [Georgia State], I’ve noticed that it is usually too late to alert me to things,” Johnson said. “In the past, Pounce has led me back to Panther Answer, which can feel like a black hole.”

But despite Johnson’s experience, Pounce delivered more than 200,000 answers to questions asked by incoming freshmen, which reduced the number of students who get admitted but never enroll by 22%, according to the Student Success website.

Arizona State University, which holds the No. 1 spot in innovation for the fifth year in a row — beating out Georgia State — attributes its success to its focus on programs in the School of Life Sciences.

The university launched the world’s largest canine cancer vaccine trial in May, which was led by Stephen Johnston, a professor in the School of Life Sciences and the director of the Center for Innovations in Medicine. Additionally, they have created BioSpine, which is the world’s first adaptive learning biology degree.

“Our innovation mindset is what makes possible discoveries and leaps forward that make our communities better for all of us,” Arizona State President Micheal Crow said in a press release.

“ASU is a place where new ideas are welcomed and encouraged; there is incredible power in an intentional culture of ‘Yes — give it a try. Let’s see what happens.’”

But Georgia State may be catching up to Arizona State’s technology curve with the opening of the Creative Media

Industries Institute in 2017 and the beginning of Phase III of the Science Park.

Along with the park will come the Next Generation Program, which will focus on artificial intelligence, quantum science and an “innovation hub” dedicated to increasing research in a wide range of subjects.

According to a Georgia State press release, the program “will be dedicated to boosting the university’s reputation for pioneering, interdisciplinary research and scholarship.”

Similarly, Arizona State is taking steps to innovate in online teaching with the Starbucks College Achievement Plan. This offers full tuition reimbursement to Starbucks employees who pursue a degree through the university.

The Arizona State Global Freshman Academy allows students to take online classes and decide after completion whether they want to pay for the credits.

Regardless of the types of programs these colleges offer, the focus is for the campus’s culture to be innovative, not necessarily for the organizations to be.

“Innovation has become part of the culture at Georgia State, and we are extremely pleased that the higher education community across the country recognizes the work we are doing,” Becker said in a statement. “We are delighted, too, that our faculty has earned recognition for the deep commitment they have to providing our students with an extraordinary education.”

Johnson feels that the “innovative culture” helped change the university as a whole.

“I’ve been going to this school since 2013, and the changes that they’ve made like the CMII and Pounce may not always be perfect, but I’m sure they’re helping students navigate campus,” she said. “There’s so much more to do [on campus] that makes [students] actually want to learn.”

NEWS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

A review of SGA’s legislative progress

Here’s what your campus representatives have done for you ADA WOOD News Editor

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ore than 2,500 students voted in the 2019 Student Government Association election, launching 35 student-representatives into elected office.

Now seven months into their terms — along with many new appointments to the Senate — it’s time to review their progress.

You may wonder what your new representatives have been up to, what legislation they’ve passed and how they’ve represented your needs this fall semester. We have those answers, plus some self-analysis from the representatives themselves.

The 2019 University-wide Senate has passed a total of four special orders and four bills. In contrast, the previous year’s Senate had passed six bills, two resolutions and five special orders by this time last year. From a purely legislative perspective, that’s a 38% decrease in productivity.

Here’s a look at what representatives across the university are most proud of — and how they think they’re failing, too.

UNIVERSITY-WIDE SENATE

In the University-wide Senate, eight pieces of legislation have passed. Three of them seated new members of the Senate, and the others formed a GILEE Ad Hoc Committee, amended Perimeter College meeting protocols, implemented roll-call voting, modified the Perimeter College Committee and updated the Bylaws.

Five pieces of legislation were introduced but not passed. One sought to seat new members, and another was a former version of the roll-call voting bill.

The three remaining bills which did not pass introduced two topics that caused quite a stir within the legislative body. The first was a proposal to rotate the location of meetings for the University-wide Senate among Georgia State’s six campuses.

The bill dominated much of the discussion at the September meeting, when it was first introduced and failed in a vote, and at the October meeting, when many senators convened on the Alpharetta campus instead of the Atlanta campus meeting location, an apparent show of support for the contentious legislation.

A second version of that bill was referred to the Bylaws Committee at the latest Thursday meeting.

The next bill was also referred to the Bylaws Committee but would have placed a constitutional amendment on the spring election ballot to change the number of university-wide seats from 46 to 31, with 16 seats from the Atlanta Senate and 15 seats from the Perimeter Senates combined.

The current model bases the number of seats on the number of students enrolled in the previous fall semester.

Both bills have caused division in the Senate. This past Thursday, a large portion of the Senate opted to meet on an alternate campus again, this time choosing the Newton campus, video calling in. Of the EVPs, only the Atlanta EVP was physically present at the Atlanta campus meeting.

When speaking to senators about the University-wide Senate, almost everyone showed some level of dissatisfaction.

“I don’t think as a University-wide Senate we have done as much to help the students as we have on an individual campus level,”

Atlanta Speaker Kaelen Thomas said.

Clarkston EVP Yasmin Henry feels that the University-wide Senate is “stagnant” right now and divided by “sides,” with an “us vs. them” mentality.

“We are fostering negativity, hostility towards one another and we are supposed to be unified,” she said. “We have the tools that we need, some of us are just a little too prideful to be able to actually make those positive changes.”

Atlanta EVP Hamza Rahman also used the word “stagnant” to describe the University-wide Senate and said he’s not satisfied with its productivity.

University-wide President Jazmin Mejia said she’s proud of the work on different campuses, such as the improved food options at Clarkston and Dunwoody and the continuation of the Flower Initiative, a goal to provide feminine hygiene products to all six campuses, from the last administration.

She is also looking forward to bringing a university-wide initiative for census outreach, working in conjunction with the City of Atlanta.

However, Mejia said she is also paying attention to the recent tension within the University-wide Senate and hopes it’s something they can improve on in the future.

“I want all of this passion to be geared more toward student legislation,” Mejia said.

“We are here to represent students.”

ATLANTA SENATE

On the Downtown campus, a total of 22 pieces of legislation were introduced to the Senate, all of which passed. And of that legislation, all but one served the purpose of seating new members of the Senate.

The remaining legislation established an Ad Hoc Committee for Government and Community Affairs.

The Atlanta Senate recently hosted constituent outreach events for all colleges, with the J. Mack Robinson College of Business constituency day to be held on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

According to Speaker Thomas, there has been “record involvement” in SGA this year, with more than 300 students interested in working in SGA. EVP Rahman echoed this sentiment.

“Students are actually reaching out to us; students are actually using us as a path to get what they need,” Rahman said.

As a result of Sen. Spencer DeHart’s successful lobbying to the Georgia State University Police Department, Thomas noted that there has been an increase in police patrols in Blue and Green lots and student escorts after “a string of violent incidents across campus.”

Last year, Student Services Chair Jessica Seimer began an initiative to develop a commuter student meal plan, something her successor Jonathan Tshizubu has worked to continue this semester, according to Thomas.

“I don’t think I will ever be satisfied because I know that there is always more that can be done to help students,” Thomas said. “However, that is not a reflection of my Senate but a reflection on myself as a leader.”

Rahman hopes in the next semester to interact more with the Greek community and increase activity with the Governmental Affairs Ad Hoc Committee.

“I think our Senate has done a phenomenal job,” he said. “I am satisfied but more can and will be done.”

CLARKSTON SENATE

Two pieces of legislation to seat new senators were passed in the Clarkston Senate.

The Clarkston Senate hosted a Coffee Corner event to meet with students and hear their concerns, much like the Atlanta Senate’s constituent outreach events.

They have also increased meal choices for students, introducing vegan and halal options, according to Ashrakat Hassan, senator for academic affairs.

“On the Clarkston campus, there are a lot of students with religious dietary restrictions, so that’s something that’s making them feel included,” EVP Henry said.

Hassan said the Clarkston Senate is looking into providing cameras in the locker room because of an area where the male and female locker rooms intersect. Hassan said the legislation will be passed after they finish researching the issue.

“I’m very proud of my Senate and how we work together. We have a lot of transparency and nothing stays a secret at Clarkston,” Henry said. “Not to sound boastful, but one of our biggest drawbacks is being a little too ambitious.”

Henry said they have gotten a lot done, especially from what she set out to do before she was elected.

“I feel like we have a lot left to do and a lot left to get done,” she said.

DUNWOODY SENATE

No legislation was provided by representatives of the Dunwoody campus and no legislation has been published in the online legislative docket.

“No legislation was passed as of recently.

None introduced recently,” Speaker of the Senate Hephzibah Jonathan said in an email.

Similar to the Clarkston Senate, Dunwoody has also expanded cafeteria options, bringing in halal options, an effort overseen by the Muslim Students Association committee led by former EVP Mohamad Alo. The Senate also hosted a drunk-driving segment twice this semester, a money management event and a stress management event.

Two of their largest projects are still in the works. The first was to address potholes in the parking lot, which was given a temporary fix but Speaker of the Senate Hephzibah Jonathan said they are pushing for something more permanent.

The Senate is also working on balancing “the disproportionate [prerequisite] classes required for some particular courses on the Perimeter Campuses that is not required on the Downtown campus.”

This semester, they were met with a refusal from the Science Executive Council regarding the prerequisites required for particular classes.

“We were hoping this issue would have been resolved by this semester so our students could take advantage of the adjusted change come spring 2020, unfortunately it is not so, but we are still working on this,” Jonathan said.

According to Jonathan, the Dunwoody Senate had only two senators this year: himself and the senator for government and community affairs, Michelle Martinez.

“The Dunwoody Campus senate is most proud about being able to run the campus even without sufficient members,” Jonathan

said. “We had to plough through running the campus affairs without adequate manpower and now we are excited for new members joining us.”

NEWTON SENATE

In Newton, the only legislation to pass the Senate was a bill to seat Speaker Pro Tempore Charlie Gongora, according to EVP Cassie Turner.

“However, the passing of legislation is not a measure of Newton’s overall success.

The legislation’s purpose is to uphold and maintain the Bylaws,” Turner said. “We are still working on getting all of our legislation posted to the website. So, if you do not see it posted yet, that is why.”

The Senate has been working to provide students better access to the Access and Accommodations Center by fixing the elevator and eventually relocating the center to the first floor.

“While Newton is continuing to work on this goal, it is not progressing as quickly as we would like,” Turner said.

Turner said the biggest accomplishment for the campus has been a visit by Congressman Hank Johnson to discuss the upcoming census.

She said there were 75 people in attendance with two members of the Census Bureau there to detail possible job opportunities and common misconceptions about the census.

Overall, Turner said she is “absolutely satisfied with the work ethic of Newton’s Senate.”

ALPHARETTA AND DECATUR SENATES

Alpharetta EVP Chase Ritterbusch, Speaker Asya McDonald and Communications Director Allison Guerrero, and Decatur EVP Hadeija Manais and Speaker De’Mona Reid all were contacted via their official SGA emails three times for their response on the legislative progress of the Alpharetta and Decatur Senates.

The Signal also announced that responses were needed within 24 hours at the Nov. 14 University-wide Senate meeting.

After all four attempts, The Signal still received no response from the representatives of these two Senates by print deadline.

No legislation is listed online for either Senate in the legislative docket.

TO SEE A FULL LIST OF LEGISLATION FROM EACH SENATE, SCAN THE QR CODE BELOW

NEWS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

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NEWS BRIEFS LOCAL Clark Atlanta student, Alexis Crawford, killed

Two people have been charged with the murder of Alexis Crawford, a student at Clark Atlanta University who had been missing for nearly two weeks. WSBTV reports that after a physical altercation between Crawford and her roommate Jordyn Jones, her roommate’s boyfriend Barron Brantley intervened and choked her to death.

The next day, her family reported her missing. On Nov. 8, her body was found in the woods. On Oct. 27, a few days before her death, Crawford had reported to police that Brantley had sexually assaulted her.

Shay’na Fields, pictured above, sits at her desk in the office of Congressman Henry C. Johnson.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAY’NA FIELDS

Shay’na Fields: From SGA to Capitol Hill The students interning for the Congressional Black Caucus DANIELLA JOHNSON Staff Reporter

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n April 2019, Shay’na Fields ran for president of the Student Government Association because she said she wanted to bring unity to all six campuses and defend the student body to the administration.

“I still have ideas that are on the table that I would like to bring up,” Fields said in an interview with The Signal last March. “I’m here to be a servant leader and to bring the best out of them academically.”

She lost the election. Three months later, Fields landed an internship in Washington, D.C. with the Congressional Black Caucus.

“I feel like when one door closes, God will always open up another one,” she said.

Immediately after the failed run for president, Fields jumped right back into her career, connecting with local political leaders and working on her own non-profit organization, Operation 50 Speaks Inc. “I believe that running for SGA was an experience to battle my fear of running for an office,” she said.

During this time, Fields attended the Global Leadership Summit for the United Nations, a three-day conference in Washington D.C. where she was lobbying on Capitol Hill with her non-profit.

State Farm’s corporate office invited her to do a non-profit show at their office, where she said she was the only black woman as well as the youngest African-American person. Fields was able to sign up over 50 State Farm employees to volunteer for her non-profit. Currently, Operation 50 Speaks is on a break while she is preparing to enter her last semester of her senior year.

“My non-profit will outlast me,” Fields said.

“It’ll outlast me, it’ll outlast college, so it’s always going to be there.”

She has also participated in college ministry

endeavors at the University of West Georgia before leaving for her internship.

“That also set me in [the true] perspective [of] where I was going, so I was pretty much being built up all around for this big move to D.C.,” Fields said.

While she was out on Capitol Hill, Fields observed the issues in the black communities and talking to the legislative team in efforts to bring awareness to constituents of Georgia’s fourth congressional district.

This fall, she began an internship for the Congressional Black Caucus, one of two Georgia State students to partake in this opportunity.

According to Fields, the mission of the Congressional Black Caucus is to advance the global black community by developing leaders, forming policy and educating the public.

According to their website, the caucus envisions a world where all communities have equal voice in public policy through leadership cultivation, economic empowerment and civic engagement. It works to diversify the amount of employment and leadership that is on Capitol Hill and expose the black community to public service.

McKenzie Tooke is another Georgia State student who interned with Fields.

“After reading so many positive testimonials about the internship and how the experience has molded so many successful black leaders, I was very excited to get involved,” Tooke said.

After writing the necessary essays, acquiring recommendations and presenting transcripts, Fields was interviewed by her congressman and successfully passed through the review board. The caucus grants interns a stipend, housing and the opportunity to work in their congressman’s office.

According to Tooke, while interning at the Capitol, she has done a variety of correspondence work, ranging from responding to letters containing concerns about government issues to answering phone calls regarding upcoming legislation to interacting with constituents who visit the congressional

office.

Tooke has attended briefings where she is responsible for reporting the information back to congressional staff. She was also responsible for researching legislation and relaying information back to staff.

“Outside of the office, I attend weekly professional development sessions that prepare me to effectively navigate the nation’s capital as a young professional,” Tooke said.

In early June, after attending a conference for the United Nations, Fields was able to lead the lobbying efforts of her team from Atlanta.

These efforts included meeting with senators and legislators to advocate for full funding for the United Nations programs, which she said that President Trump was going to cut funding for.

“When I met Congressman Johnson, who is actually my district representative, I shook his hand, and I looked him in his eyes and said, ‘I’m going to solve problems here,’” Fields said.

In addition to networking, Fields’ own personal work also led her to the work she is currently doing on Capitol Hill. Operation 50 Speaks educates young adults on the importance of their voice and presence in local government affairs, through events like voter registration drives.

Fields believes there needs to be greater youth participation and is working toward bridging the gap between the community and the local government.

“My goal [is] to make sure that young people understand the power of their voice and the resources that are available to them on the local level [because] we don’t talk about that,” Fields said.

Fields has some advice for any upcoming leaders at Georgia State.

“Whatever you’re doing, don’t freak out about what’s happening five years from now … don’t freak out about what did happen; do what you can to end your current chapter well,” Fields said. “End it with joy and dignity, and enjoy the fruit of your labor.”

NATIONAL Public hearings begin for impeachment

The impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump are moving forward this week as Democrats held public hearings throughout the week and are moving toward drafting articles of impeachment, according to ABC News. This comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the formal opening of an impeachment inquiry on Sept. 24 and the House voted to authorize the inquiry on Oct. 31. A State Department official, a U.S. diplomat to Ukraine and a former ambassador to Ukraine all testified publicly this week.

GLOBAL Floods in Venice take toll on city

The Italian government has declared a state of emergency in Venice in response to severe flooding Thursday, which its mayor blamed on climate change. The Associated Press reported that the water reached just over six feet above sea level, the second-highest level ever recorded in the city. More than 80% of the city was under water when tides were at their highest, according to the BBC.

NEWS

6

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Candace Owens’ ‘Blexit’ comes to Atlanta

The movement for black Americans to leave the Democratic Party IMANI DENNIS Staff Reporter

A

majority black crowd of at least 500 people assembled in Buckhead Theatre in Trump merch and neon shirts that read “Liberals Can’t Bully Me!” for one reason: They are tired of the Democratic Party.

The event known as Blexit (a portmanteau of “black” and “exit” in the style of “Brexit”) was held on Nov. 11.

Public figures, including Terrance Williams, Tyler Moore, David Harris Jr., KingFace, Bishop Jackson and Candace Owens, spoke at the event.

Owens, who is the former communications director for Turning Point USA, founded the Blexit movement to encourage black people to leave the Democratic Party and “release themselves from intellectual bondage,” according to the movement’s website.

The event began with a video montage of news coverage of police brutality against black Americans, alongside Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, black families and rapper Kanye West with President Donald Trump.

Another montage, a video of Maya Angelou reciting her poem “Still I Rise” juxtaposed with “whites only” signs, black pop culture references and then King giving a speech about the “Promised Land” with footage of Candace Owens speaking at events.

Then, the single phrase: “Freedom.”

The Blexit movement often argues that the Democratic Party has not done anything for black people.

“It’s so sad to me that, for 60 years, our black community has been blindly pledging allegiance to a particular political party that I believe has not done anything for us,” speaker David Harris Jr. said.

Comedian and political commentator Terrance Williams mentioned having an awakening from “being the victim” of America.

“The white man Bob don’t owe you nothing. You know who [owes] you something? You owe yourself,” he said.

Multiple speakers mentioned the “abortion rates of African American babies,” the lack of a family unit, the racist past of the Democratic Party and the black community’s reliance on healthcare as reasons for the Blexit.

“Welfare wasn’t built to help people get ahead in their lives; it was built to keep them addicted,” Owens said to

Candace Owens, creator of the “Blexit” movement, held an event at the Buckhead Theatre on Monday, Nov. 11.

PHOTO BY IMANI DENIS | THE SIGNAL

the crowd.

Owens said that, when she grew up, there were black families on TV like the Cosbys, but now children are being raised by the streets and hip-hop music.

“I [want to] remind people what we’re missing,” she said.

“Black Americans have woken up and realized that there is something really wrong right now.”

Kanye West’s music played throughout the event, despite West recently distancing himself from the Blexit movement after Owens advertised that he had a hand in the creation of some Blexit merch designs, which he denied, according to Rolling Stone magazine.

Tyler Moore, a Georgia State student and treasurer for Turning Point GSU, the Georgia State chapter of

Turning Point USA, felt that black people are forced to be Democrats and Blexit allows them to think differently.

“Many blacks that vote Democratic are actually conservative,” Moore said. “Blexit allows blacks to say that if these aren’t your values, you should be able to vote a different way.”

Blexit and its connections to Turning Point has been the subject of intense controversy, especially for its strong support of President Donald Trump, despite a long history of allegations of racism against him.

Some examples include Trump’s references to immigrants from “sh--hole countries” and being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for violating the Fair Housing Act, according to Vox.

Meet Georgia State’s presidential ambassadors What these 1913 Society members gain from the experience SARA MUNOZ Staff Reporter

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residential Ambassador Jazmin Garcia, a member of the 1913 Society, stood outside of the double doors to Dahlberg Hall greeting attendees for the Veterans Recognition Ceremony on Nov. 7. She welcomed guests, checked them in and answered their questions.

Established by the Office of the President, this student ambassador program allows undergraduate students to serve as official hosts and ambassadors for Georgia State.

Members of the 1913 Society can be found greeting and ushering in guests at official Georgia State events that range from keynote speakers to donor events and even home football games.

Members are not limited to attending and assisting with the events but are also encouraged to participate in community service activities. For example, a toy drive will

be held for patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for the holiday season.

Garcia and Grace Davenport, another ambassador, both agree that being able to show a strong presence of diversity and having the opportunity to give back to Georgia State is what makes working and attending these events worthwhile.

Presidential Ambassador Ausar Simmond believes that because a majority of events are attended by donors, it is important for them to see the students who their contributions are directly benefiting.

As Garcia describes it, being a member of the 1913 Society is like being Georgia State’s poster child.

“We volunteer to work these events in order to represent Georgia State in all aspects in a positive way and we strive to be more than just students,” Garcia said. “Not a lot of people know about 1913 or the substance it can bring them for becoming a professional individual.”

William Anderson, a 2017 Georgia State graduate and a member of the 1913 Society for two years, serves as an example of what possibilities the society could bring.

Thanks to the professional skills gained from being a member of the 1913 Society, he says, he was able to attain his job ate Georgia Bureau of Investigation as a death investigation specialist.

“In 1913, you learn a lot of diplomacy, interpersonal skills and, overall, how to be a professional that will help you no matter what career field you go into,” Anderson said.

The membership process for the 1913 Society can be lengthy, according to Davenport. She said this is to ensure that students applying are dedicated to serving Georgia State and not just attempting to gain “academic prowess.”

The process includes the basics: application with recommendation letters, headshots and an essay piece.

Group interviews follow the submittal of the application and if chosen to continue the process, individual interviews proceed with the group ones. Acceptance is yearly in the spring.

With over 200 applications received, less than 30 were accepted in spring 2019.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2019 TUESDAY, JANUARY 15,19, 2019

www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions

The dark road ahead for Netflix

The “Streaming Wars” and its effect on students KENNETH LOCKETT III Associate Opinions Editor

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ILLUSTRATION BY SHANCHEZE JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

o far, November has been one of the biggest months for TV and film in 2019. The fourth season of “Rick and Morty” dropped on Nov. 10, and “Frozen 2” is set to release on Nov. 22.

But more importantly, both Disney and Apple have released their new streaming services Disney+ and Apple TV, respectively. New to the on-demand streaming scene, both companies have made it crystal clear that they are here to take the market share away from streaming juggernaut Netflix.

Netflix and its 158 million paid subscriptions have a 37% market share over the entire internet as of 2018, according to Statista. The ubiquitous red “N” in a black box garners a revenue of nearly $16 billion from their packages.

But even before the new streaming platforms hit the market, Netflix has to worry about its main rival, Hulu. With an estimated 82 million users in 2019, the multiple company-owned Hulu is one of the few companies that pose a serious challenge to Netflix in the streaming marketplace, especially with the $4.99 a month student package with Spotify Premium and Showtime included.

Even with Hulu on its coattails, Netflix was never worried about losing its market share until now.

In a letter to investors in early October, the company stated, “While the new competitors have some great titles (especially catalog titles), none have the variety, diversity and quality of new original programming that we are producing around the world,” seemingly recognizing the situation they will be exposed to in the coming months. They also reported that they didn’t make subscriber growth goals for the third quarter, and they likely won’t make it for fourth quarter.

While it doesn’t look good for Netflix, and the Disney-owned Hulu won’t be concerned, for us, this is a great thing. Competition in the market is one of the greatest things for the consumer.

Netflix has been steadily rasing prices for a few years, mostly to finance their ever-increasing offerings of original programming. But now that Apple TV is entering at $4.99, with a year free if you buy a new Apple device, and Disney+ comes in at $6.99 month or $69.99 for the year package, these lower prices models would likely encourage Netflix to decrease prices.

But it’s the future that could even further support students but less in the monetary department. Much like how cable works nowadays, packages are likely down the pipeline right now. And we are already getting a taste of that system already.

Earlier this month, Disney announced that they will be offering a bundle package of Disney +, Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99 a month, which is the same price as Netflix’s cheapest package.

And frankly, that’s a deal I can get behind. Now, I can watch Marvel movies, “Grown-ish” and the failure of the New York Giants all on the same day for one price. And then you can split that even further with your friends and family.

Netflix needs to change the current model if it wants to survive the influx of new streaming services because while this new diversity of services is great for students, it could mark the end of Netflix.

letter to the editor From soldier to civilian in one week

The shift back to civilian life isn’t so smooth at Georgia State Dear editor, Familiar slogans like “The Few, The Proud,” “Army Strong” and “Fight and Win” have been used to describe the greatness that is the U.S. military and its members. Yet many veterans are depicted as unstable, depressed and seemingly unfit to thrive as civilians.

Unfortunately, it’s a general consensus among veterans that “veterans services suck” and “they don’t care about us.” This attitude is a reflection of the inadequate assistance provided by the government during the critical transitional period from structured military life to lackadaisical civilian life.

In fairness, the U.S. military has a program dedicated to the civilian transitional period. The Transition Assistance Program strives to provide service members and their significant others with information, training and tools to assist in the transition to civilian life.

TAP focuses on employment, education and entrepreneurship. And while these topics are important, they are compressed into a week of exhausting lectures and PowerPoint presentations.

Arguably more essential topics, such as living expenses, time management, personal health and the

Veterans Affairs healthcare system get little attention.

NaTasc’ha Nichols, a Georgia State military student advocate for the Military Outreach Center on the Dunwoody campus, understands the flaws in the system. Eight years ago, she completed her initial military contract with the U.S. Army and did not reenlist. Like most, Nichols was led to believe that after completing TAP, she would smoothly shift into civilian life.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that wasn’t the case. Within months, she was back in the military, this time in the Army Reserves.

“I got out, but it didn’t feel like the freedom I imagined. I just wasn’t as prepared as I thought,” Nichols said.

According to a study in the Annals of Epidemiology, veterans exhibit “significantly higher suicide risk compared with the [U.S.] general population.”

Additionally, about 40,000 vets are homeless.

A change to the system is overdue. Extending the timeframe of TAP would provide service members with adequate time to transition. It can take up to one year to develop a civilian into a soldier. The same dedication should be used to develop service members to civilians.

Equally important, service members must do their part. Many ex- and active-duty service members are hesitant to ask for or accept help, but it’s better to have someone hold their hand as they grow into a new life than to have someone extend their hand to donate coins when they’re begging on a street corner.

Most veterans are proud of the values and ethics instilled by the military. Yet for all they sacrificed, recently separated veterans often find themselves struggling to find their place in society.

Today, Georgia State is home to over 3,500 selfidentified veterans. It’s unfortunate that the Military Outreach Centers are playing catch-up to meet these heroes’ needs while the outdated methods of TAP struggle to adapt to current challenges.

Like deployed soldiers overseas, soon-to-becivilians should be equipped with the necessary information and tools to survive in this new environment.

Alex Torres Homeland Security and Emergency Management, A.S. Freshman

OPINIONS

8

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Indulge in more than just turkey this month Men’s Health Awareness is lifelong, not a thirty-day meme

executive president & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Daniel Varitek

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N

ovember is considered by many to be National Men’s Health Awareness Month. It’s the reason why men get together and don’t shave for 30 days: to raise awareness for men’s health issues such as prostate cancer, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues and male suicide. Yet, it somehow morphed into also being a 30-day competition to see how much men can abstain from sex and any sexual activity.

There is a belief in American culture that men must be “manly,” which means they must never complain, adopt and live by the mantra of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and never display any emotions that are not either stoicism or anger. But this leads to more issues and disrupts the possibility of living a healthier, happier life.

Inspired by No Shave November, No Nut November, the annual event that encourages men to go a full month without any sexual release, throws everything about National Men’s Health Awareness Month in the trash, next to your used tissues. The rules are pretty simple: Don’t have sex, masturbate, or ‘nut’ in any way, shape or form for thirty days.

Someone — we may never know who — stumbled across a 2003 study from an obscure Chinese journal that hinted prolonged periods of ejaculation abstinence could have positive health benefits. What might have started as research quickly spread through the internet and, well, once the internet gets its hands on something, it has a funny way of getting it completely twisted.

According to Know Your Meme, a user by the name of bicboi6969696969 submitted the first known entry for “No Nut November” on Nov. 3, 2011. But it wasn’t until 2017 that the study-turned-challenge rose to

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fame via Twitter. User @I_H8THOTS tweeted: “Not even a day into No Nut November and I’ve already beat my meat like it owes me money.” Classy.

I’m not one to yuck someone else’s yum, but No Nut November has turned into a kind of joke. It’s believed by some (perhaps not entirely seriously) that once you reach a certain point on your No Nut journey, you’ll gain psychic powers, the ability to levitate, boost testosterone and reduce compulsive behavior.

But going back to the root of the challenge, National Men’s Health Awareness Month was created to raise awareness for men’s health. What’s something healthy men should do? Say “no” to the No Nut November challenge.

Ignore the claims that it benefits men’s sexual health

men; the opposite is true: Harvard Medical School published an article with data that suggests that men who ejaculate regularly are at a lower risk of prostate cancer.

Scientists found that men who ejaculated 21 or more times a month enjoyed a 33% lower risk of prostate cancer compared with men who reported just four to seven ejaculations a month throughout their lifetimes.

Sometimes, going without is nothing more than a bet between you and your roommate, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but don’t be disappointed when you can’t float out of your dorm room 30 days later.

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When reclaiming my sexuality goes wrong The myth of the liberal sexual mold further stigmatizes sexuality JANNEYN SIMMONS Staff Columnist

I

am never one to cape for conservatism, but there is a fine line between true empowerment and attention-seeking. We are currently in an era that is revolutionizing how we discuss the sexuality of marginalized groups and how we portray these groups.

The patriarchal forces of our society have diligently marketed promiscuity and homoeroticism as inherently disgusting, unnatural and immoral. The indoctrination of homophobia and misogyny has created a somewhat fetishistic regard for the sexuality of women and LGBTQ+ people.

If a film or TV series allows a woman to be portrayed as promiscuous, there will be some subsequent downfall in her character development.

Some filmmakers even go as far as to depict the rape of their promiscuous female characters as a way to subconsciously “balance out” her lusty ways. In the 1986 film “She’s Gotta Have It,” for example, Spike Lee depicted his protagonist Nola Darling as being assaulted by one of her possessive partners.

Lee has since realized his mistake, but he didn’t improve his portrayal of Nola all that much in his 2017 Netflix adaptation. He replaced the rape scene with borderline excessive scenes of a nude Dewanda Wise.

Lee also went as far as to sexualize her relationship with the character Opal, who made up about an episode and a half ’s worth of screen time, the majority

of it spent completely nude.

Gay men don’t get a better depiction in the media either. The only men who are allowed to be openly gay are men who are flamboyant hairdressers and effeminate sidekicks. The “masculine” gay men are all severely closeted and self-loathing, or in the case of HBO’s “Oz,” they discover their sexuality via rape and torture.

With the cycle of objectification and fetishization of these groups, I understand the need for reclamation and politicization of sexuality, but I feel our current methods are equally regressive.

I want flamboyance and overt sexuality to be celebrated in the media. Simultaneously, I don’t want the narrative to be spun that men who aren’t flamboyant must necessarily be ashamed of their sexual orientation or in some form of denial. For all we know, they could be perfectly happy just the way they are. I would also like to see sexual exploration, especially for black men, depicted in a way that doesn’t always degenerate into rape or other forms of lifelong trauma.

I want people like Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj to be celebrated, too, but I don’t want women to have to be naked or stripper-adjacent to feel “liberated.” I want women to be given a safe space to accept their bodies, without having to broadcast them.

I want the media to stop portraying us as a monolith. I want women to be comfortable with sex and sexuality without feeling forced to display themselves in an overtly sexual manner.

The history of appropriating marginalized sexuality

has garnered a rise of overt sexuality. The 1980s to the present have revolutionized how marginalized groups present themselves.

Female rappers and actresses incorporate sex appeal into their platforms. The mainstream music scene is heavily seasoned with explicit lyrics about taboo subjects,s such as fellatio, sex work, and nontraditional relationships. Queer groups, through literature like the “Act Up Manifesto,” boldly declare “every time we f---, we win.”

Society has long expected marginalized groups to be “seen, not heard,” so repurposing historical (and current) abuse can be empowering. But it has its downsides.

The biggest mistake that I see being made is an attempt to reshape the mold of these groups.

Cowardice, prudishness and conservatism are traits often attributed to those who don’t present themselves in the manner of the new champions of pride and feminist movements.

There is nothing wrong with reclaiming the sexuality that has been tabooed in our society for so long, but there should be a mutual understanding on all sides. The key to true liberation isn’t reshaping a mold to fit a liberal paradigm; it’s abolishing all stereotypical expectations altogether.

Whether a person is “reserved,” “explicit,” “audacious” or “submissive,” no one should be expected to prove themselves in their personal sexual practices and presentation. We should welcome all nuances in sexual expression and fight against the fetishization and appropriation of our representation.

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ARTS & LIVING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

www.georgiastatesignal.com/artsandliving

ILLUSTRATION BY AMBER KIRLEW | THE SIGNAL

CROWN

for a

CAUSE

Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. hosts male beauty pageant to raise money for epilepsy

HANNAH JONES Staff Reporter

G

eorgia State students poured into the speaker’s auditorium in Student Center East while “Men in Black” by Will Smith blared over the speakers. Four students are invited to the stage, dressed in their best formal wear and compete in a male beauty pageant, hoping to win the hearts of the judges.

Welcome to the sixth annual Mr. Unstoppable event hosted by Georgia State’s Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc (LTA).

The event’s theme was based on the film “Men in Black,” with each participant donning suits and referred to as “agents.”

The sorority sisters held the event to raise money for the Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia. The four contestants took the stage to perform a synchronized dance, answer trivia questions about epilepsy and showcase a personal talent.

The crowd was full of cheers, claps and words of encouragement for the contestants. At the end of the night, senior Jorge Vasquez, also known as “Agent J,” was crowned Mr. Unstoppable.

Vasquez is a member of La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsion Lambda Fraternity Inc. He learned about the Mr. Unstoppable event through his fraternity and from friends in LTA. Wanting to live senior year to the fullest, Vasquez decided to compete in the pageant to “step outside of my comfort zone, and this was the perfect opportunity for me to show people who I am.”

For the talent portion, Vasquez serenaded the crowd with “Darte un Beso” by Prince Royce on guitar and won the judges’ affection.

Each contestant was responsible for promoting the fundraiser via social media and in-person campaigns. Thanks to the contestants and with the help of the Georgia State community, the Delta Beta chapter raised $1,303 in donations.

As a child, Vasquez had a friend who lived with epilepsy. He said

he used this fundraiser as a way to honor his old friend. Through his fraternity’s connections, Vasquez happily received donations from people across the country.

LTA has a knack for community service. Among other initiatives, LTA collected 50 bras from the Panther community last month to donate to Free The Girls, a non-profit organization dedicated to reintegrating women rescued from sex trafficking back into society.

President Mariana Oritz said she is grateful to be allowed the chance to aid her community.

“I love being able to do a lot of community service and doing programs that educate Georgia State about different issues that are going on,” Oritz said. “Not just [issues] in the Latinx community, but for women, for students, for immigrants, refugees.”

Oritz and Vice President Amy Vicente both cite education and community outreach as the main goals of their organization. LTA aims to educate the Georgia State community about the challenges that minorities may face.

“A lot of our sisters are first-generation students, so education is something that is very prominent within our organization,” Vicente said. “We love putting on educational events on different topics, such as community-based outreach, service opportunities or events pertaining to [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] and immigration rights. So our purpose is rooted in providing educational opportunities for our [Georgia State] friends to be able to become more knowledgeable about those topics.”

Oritz agrees that adding that these conversations are essential to foster an inclusive campus and community.

“We provide a safe space to have different conversations about immigration status, refugee status, DACA and education,” Oritz said. “[We discuss] how it feels to be a woman and a minority on a college campus, talk about some of the barriers we face and how we can overcome these barriers. I think that’s really important because we see that we’re not so different overall.”

For the members of LTA, the organization has served as a

support system and a kind of family for its members.

The transition from high school to college was difficult for Vicente, and LTA proved to be a welcoming place on campus.

“My sisters have helped me grow outside of my comfort zone and, overall, they’re just really encouraging personally, academically and professionally,” Vicente said. “They are a strong backbone that I can rely on whenever I need them.”

Oritz attended a predominantly white high school. Craving a more inclusive community, she was enticed by Georgia State’s extremely diverse student body. Serving as president of LTA has given Oritz the chance to engage with this diversity. “[We strive] to help students that are of minority status, and help reach their goals of trying to pursue higher education,” Oritz said.

This year’s chapter philanthropy group was chosen to honor a founding sister who lives with epilepsy. Oritz said the chapter hoped to use the Mr. Unstoppable event as an entertaining way to educate the Panther community about epilepsy.

Oritz and Vicente deem this year’s Mr. Unstoppable event as a success. Last year, the event had six contestants, two more than this year, but the 2019 participants raised several hundred dollars more.

Vicente said she is thankful for the fundraising efforts and companionship of the contestants, who were “super into it.”

“It’s awesome to see a group of guys that perhaps didn’t know one another in the beginning, turning out to be really, really good friends,” Vicente said. “It’s awesome to see the connection they’re able to make with themselves, as well as the sisters. Overall, I think the money raised is going to do wonders with the Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia, and it was a successful event for sure.”

The event and the Mr. Unstoppable title have given Vasquez a confidence-boost and an overall fun experience.

“It was amazing,” Vasquez said. “I’m not an outgoing person. I’m more of an introvert and actually winning gave me confidence. I thought to myself, ‘If I can win a pageant, I can do anything.’ I’m not limited no more. I feel like anything is possible.”

ART & ACTIVISM IN ATLANTA YEHIMI CAMBRÓN ON HER MURALS, IMMIGRATION AND AMERICA MAYA TORRES | STAFF REPORTER

F

or Yehimi Cambrón, an artist and activist who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of eight, Atlanta is home.

Cambrón grew up on Buford Highway and attended Cross Keys High School. After graduation, she went on to attend Agnes Scott College.

Going to college, Cambrón had no idea whether or not her degree would allow her to work, as she is an undocumented immigrant. But for her, the choice was still obvious.

“I felt like I still deserved that education, even if I wasn’t going to be able to work,” Cambrón said. “That was so naturally the next step for me. My teachers had always encouraged me in that way, and there was no question in my mind that I would go to college until I realized that my undocumented [status] meant I wouldn’t have access to certain things.”

During her college years, the Obama administration announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program in a presidential memorandum. DACA is a renewable two-year work permit allowing undocumented immigrants to live and work within the U.S. “Legally, DACA provides us with a temporary protection from deportation, and for those two years that we are DACA recipients, we also get an employment authorization document, which is just an ID,” Cambrón said. “DACA doesn’t give you any sort of legal status. It gives you something that they call a legal presence, so for those two years, you’re legally able to be present in the United States.”

‘WE CARRY THE DREAMS’: STORIES FROM UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

While Georgia State students may not have heard of Cambrón

directly, many are already familiar with her work. Cambrón’s mural, “We Carry the Dreams,” painted in November 2018, can be seen outside of the Georgia State MARTA station and is passed by hundreds of students each day.

“We Carry the Dreams” was a part of the “Off the Wall” project, which shares stories from Atlanta’s social justice and civil rights journey through murals and media. “Off the Wall” was led by the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee in preparation for the Atlanta Super Bowl in February.

Before choosing what she was going to paint, Cambrón chose the spot to paint her mural. For her, the location of the project on Georgia State’s campus and around the corner from the Capitol building felt empowering, especially because both of these institutions are places from which she’d previously been turned away.

Up until 2018, undocumented students, DACA recipients included, were turned away from Georgia State and many other public universities in Georgia in compliance with state policy. Currently, undocumented students are still barred from three of the state’s top schools, the University of Georgia, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Georgia College and State University.

Additionally, as a sophomore in high school, Cambrón won an art contest and was invited to the Georgia Capitol to receive her prize only to find out that she was unable to claim her prize because she lacked a Social Security number.

“Someone decided that I had the skills necessary to be awarded a prize, but the fact that I didn’t have a Social Security number made it so that I wasn’t worthy of being compensated for my artwork,” Cambrón said. “That was really heartbreaking, but also very eye-opening, because it helped me realize that

being undocumented would limit a lot of what I could or couldn’t do in Georgia. Being able to paint a mural right around the corner from the place where I was once turned away empty-handed to me felt like justice.”

“We Carry the Dreams” features five faces of undocumented people who have inspired Cambrón.

Three of the people were her students at Freedom University, and one individual was her student at Cross Keys High School. The fifth face is that of a local entrepreneur.

“These are all people who are fighting for their dreams and are in the front lines, despite their immigration status,” Cambrón said. “They’re people who are a part of American communities in so many ways. I wanted to focus specifically on students, because of that ban on undocumented students at Georgia State, and to send a message that we still have this presence. We’re here, and we’re not going anywhere. For me, as an artist, this message that the contributions and impact that we have made will always be a part of this country’s fabric, regardless of what happens with us.”

Behind the faces are words spoken by these people in conversation with Cambrón, as well as the stripes of the American flag. Monarch butterflies are featured in the piece as well.

“I worked to be a space for them to share their stories in a way that is not censored or sugarcoated or twisted,” Cambrón said. “I think our narratives are so often extracted from us for people to do whatever they want with them, whether it’s for political gain or whether to use us to negotiate or to vilify us and make us look like

criminals. I wanted to have a space that was protected from all of that and where people didn’t have to censor themselves and could just speak their truth and their experience, which has intellectual value.”

The stripes and the Monarch butterflies both have symbolic meaning for Cambrón.

“The American flag I feel is such a strong symbol, and I think it’s something that everyone in this country can connect to,” she said. “I’ve felt so betrayed at times by the country that I call home, so there’s a lot of nostalgia for me when I see the American flag. But I also wanted to assert the contributions that the people in the mural made to American society, and the fact that no matter what happens, we’re going to continue building American communities.”

The monarch butterfly is just as American of a symbol as the flag itself.

“The monarch butterfly is a symbol that immigration activists have identified with for a long time because of its journey that it makes from Mexico to Canada across borders,” Cambrón said. “It’s such a seemingly small insect, and it takes on this [huge] journey. It’s just a reminder to people that as human beings, we have the right to migrate. It’s such a natural thing to do, and these migration patterns existed long before borders.”

CAMBRÓN’S OTHER WORK AROUND ATLANTA

Cambrón’s other work includes a piece called “Freedom Fighters,” which features a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. and is on display on the back of the

American Hotel. The piece was painted in January and was also a part of the “Off the Wall” project.

Cambrón also has a piece in Decatur called “Monuments: Our Immigrant Mothers,” which features Cambrón’s mother, the mother of one of her former classmates from Zambia and the mother of one of her former students from Vietnam.

“I wanted to have this representation so that people remember that migration is not a Latinx issue and is not a Mexican issue,” Cambrón said. “This is a global thing that happens, and immigrants look like everyone.”

The women in the piece are depicted in a sanctuary of Mexican cactus plants and, again, monarch butterflies.

Unable to leave the country and reenter due to her undocumented status, Cambrón yearns to visit her home and family in Mexico, but is unable to.

“I felt like I was creating a little piece of home for myself through that mural,” she said. “Being Mexican is often something that people feel is so bad. I wanted to show that pride that I have for myself and for my Mexican roots.”

Cambrón’s first ever mural, “Education is Liberation Monarch,” is in its second location now after being removed from the Havana Sandwich Shop on Buford Highway.

In the mural, under Cambrón’s signature is the hashtag #HereToStay. The hashtag was painted over to keep the restaurant owners away from involvement with the DACA issue. Cambrón added the hashtag again to her piece in order to protect the intent behind it, and was told that if she attempted to do so again, the entire mural would be painted over. Two days later, she shared what had been happening on social media, and hours later the mural was painted over.

“It was painful, and I cried, and I mourned the loss of that

mural,” Cambrón said. “It felt like an act of violence for me because that was my existence that I put on there. I wanted to take all of that energy and create a space for conversation, so I raised money to repaint the mural. I finished repainting it at the Latin American Association bigger, better and bilingual [the mural now features the hashtag in Spanish as well]. It’s right up the street from where it originally was … It was a great way to show people that in all of these situations where we feel censored and hurt that we have the power to turn that anger and that fear into something positive.”

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR DACA IMMIGRANTS

In 2019, Cambrón’s future is unsure. The Trump administration and the Supreme Court are both working to remove DACA from American policy. At this point, DACA recipients are still allowed to apply for two more years in the country, but immigrants are no longer allowed to apply to become DACA recipients.

“We came out of the shadows,” Cambrón said. “We let our country see us, and now what? What happens when DACA goes way? We become immediately eligible for deportation and it feels like such a betrayal of us coming forward in good faith.”

But Cambrón is not giving up the fight for herself and for her fellow DACA recipients “We need to remember that things like DACA happen because we mobilize and organize,” she said. “No matter what decisions are made now or in the future politically, we have so much power within our community. That’s where we should find hope.

People like me are not going to give up, DACA or no DACA.”

ARTS & LIVING

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Curiosities and Oddities Expo takes Atlanta For lovers of the strange and unusual, here is an event for you RO PARKER Staff Reporter

A

ccessible to touch and own: a human fibula for $75. Or if that may not suit one’s fancy, try a dog fetus preserved in a jar of alcohol, preserved in formaldehyde.

At the Curiosities and Oddities Expo at AmericasMart in downtown Atlanta on Saturday, hundreds of visitors had the opportunity to see and buy these bizarre items and much more. Vendors from all over the country supplied haunted knickknacks, bone-enlaced jewelry and taxidermy specimens to name a few of the items up for grabs.

Like a 1920s circus, the Curiosities and Oddities Expo is a traveling show, which started in January on the West Coast and made its way over to the East Coast by July.

One vendor native to Atlanta explained her process of collecting the items she was selling, which entailed feeling the energies of past owners within the objects. One doll she had previously collected had a troubled past, so much so that the vendor had to separate the doll from the others, as when they were together, the other dolls would mysteriously fall to the floor. Fortunately for the vendor, this haunted doll was sold at the Curiosities and Oddities Expo.

“It’s my tribe. When you fit in somewhere, you know,” she said.

“We don’t suit every show.”

— CHRISTIAN DAVIS Reforming Arts board secretary

Another vendor explained the thrill of finding the items that she collects. Going to yard sales and thrift stores in order to find things that speak to her, including the innards of a doll face, is her passion. She described her style as gothic Victorian, stating that the items before her were really just an extension of what her home looks like.

Odd pieces were scattered throughout the expo, including “1914 Oddfellows Sterling Initiation Boards” for $300. The set of two wooden boards, one with sharp iron needles poking through and the other with the same needles made of rubber were once used by secret organizations as a trust exercise for pledges. The inductee would feel the ironneedled board and then be blindfolded. While visually impaired, the boards would be switched out.

Caskets, burial clothing from the early 1900s and funeral home candle stands were also available to buyers.

An Alabama couple traveled to the expo specifically to find wedding rings made of bone, while another visitor also found what he was looking for in a bone-piece. This man who was missing the upper portion of one of his fingers found satisfaction in a box of human finger bones, measuring them for size against his own before discovering a perfect match and purchasing it.

Another shopper was elated to find a recipe book for absinthe cocktails, stating that most bookstores do not carry things like that.

Although many of the vendors were collectors, the majority were artists. One artist created pieces of furniture with spider webs, the webs preserved on the tops of dressers.

Others sold their photography as prints, including Eric Richardson, who owns a dark photography business for clients able to model burlesque-style with chainsaws or clown paraphernalia.

Vendor booths also showcased paintings of real-life haunted houses with explanations of the murders that occurred there, jewelry made to look like Ouija planchettes and pottery pieces with tongues and eyeballs coming out.

Another vendor specialized in making skulls by creating molds. He then could create candles and jewelry including a bolo tie with a tiny, skull clasp.

Enticing a niche audience, one vendor, Skulls and Stones,

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At the Curiosities and Oddities Expo at AmericasMart in Downtown Atlanta on Saturday, Nov. 16, hundreds of visitors explored and purchases these bizarre items and much more.

explained that her favorite part about the expo was the people.

“It’s my tribe. When you fit in somewhere, you know,” she said. “We don’t suit every show.”

But at this show, hand-painted masks were advertised to be “good stocking stuffers,” and a sign once reading “live laugh love” was crossed out to then say “eat s--- die.”

Though much adult content was present, including a set of dilators, a rusty sickle and a closed book of prints marked on the cover as “XXX prints for grown a-- adults” with drawings of sexual content, many visitors brought their kids along.

Parents and children alike ooh-ed and ah-ed at the preserved possum fetuses taken from roadkill. Mummified deer and goat fetuses also drew familial attention.

Other oddities included a jar of spongey white substance in liquid labeled “human fat age 50” for $30 and a “German glass eye” for $50.

At points, many of the children in attendance took seats

PHOTO BY SYLVESTER SILVER III | THE SIGNAL

PHOTO BY SHEL LEVY | THE SIGNAL

in front of the main stage at the expo where performances occurred, including magic shows and women dancing with fans.

The Curiosities and Oddities Expo is also known for its live human suspension. Guests over the age of 18 can be suspended for a minimum of $125 depending on the type of suspension they want to do. This practice is a form of body modification in which large hooked needles are inserted into an area of an individual’s body. The inserts are then attached to a rope-swing for the performer’s body to suspend in the air.

National Geographic magazine explained this phenomenon in a 2009 video as the human fight-or-flight response creating a pleasurable experience from pain.

Suspendees experience endorphins and a quickened heart rate in the process.

Apart from suspension, the expo also offered body piercings and a class in which attendees could learn how to perform taxidermy for $180.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

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Drawings of ‘Yellow Submarines’ and ‘Strawberry Fields’ Nick and Tim put a spin on request-driven performance SHARAYAH DAVIS Staff Reporter

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ick Niespodziani from local cover band Yacht Rock Revue along with local musician Tim led a spin on a traditional Beatles tribute night at Venkman’s on Sunday night. Instead of shouting out or writing down songs, the audience was asked to draw their requests with crayons and notecards.

Venkman’s, a local restaurant and host of live music, was opened by Niespodziani along with a fellow bandmate in 2015. The restaurant hosts many different events from live cover bands to mimosa brunches and dance parties.

The music played at Venkman’s ranges from classic rock to grunge, country and even to R&B and jazz. They host many popular local tribute bands including the Dirty Doors (a tribute to the Doors), Flannel Nation (a femalefronted tribute band to 90s grunge) and more.

The restaurant and bar are the perfect, cozy atmosphere to listen to live music while indulging in their menu which is far from normal, everyday pub grub. Customers can choose from normal American bar dishes like wings or french fries, but, instead of ketchup, the french fries come with a special pickle sauce. And, instead of typical buffalo sauce, the wings are covered in their house LatinLexington barbecue sauce.

It was a full house, and the audience waited excitedly for the show to start while indulging in their meals. Several David Bowie classics such as “Let’s Dance” and “Young Americans” played over the house speakers, greeting the audience upon arrival.

A bucket was then put out on the stage with a sign instructing the audience where to place their request drawing. An example drawing was projected onto the screen on stage. The drawing was of a blue sky featuring Lucy from “Peanuts” and three diamonds, clearly indicating a request for “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

The performance kicked off with the title track from the renowned album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

Accompanied by mouth-made trumpet noises, the acoustic version of the classic energized the audience as they led into the second track of the album, “With a Little Help from my Friends.”

They continued flawlessly through the first three tracks of the “Sgt. Pepper” album. The audience collectively participated in pounding out the three beats preceding the chorus of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” on their tables.

The pair nailed the harmonies in “Help!” before leading

ILLUSTRATION BY ALLEN NGUYEN | THE SIGNAL

into the first audience request for “Two of Us”. The next drawing featured a drawing of a man chasing a drawing of another man with the sun for a face, indicating “I’ll Follow the Sun.” Many drew pictures of blackbirds for “Blackbird” or a gun with a smiley face for “Happiness is a Warm Gun.” “Octopus’s Garden” was also a popular drawing turned in, with several of the drawings being particularly well-done

and detailed. “Here Comes the Sun,” requested through several drawings of sunrises, showed off the impressive finger-picking skills of the two musicians.

“Hey Jude” ended off their spectacularly creative, request-driven set and had the entire audience singing along to the bridge, ending off the night with the restaurant all singing the Beatles classic they all know and love together.

The best and worst places to let one rip

Georgia State students rate bathrooms on the Downtown campus DANIELLA BOIK

Associate Arts & Living Editor

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he luxury of using a private bathroom gives peace of mind to be as loud as needed after that afternoon bean burrito. However, being on campus with thousands of students, it’s not easy to find a place to go without having stage fright about how loud the droppings might be.

The Signal spoke with several Georgia State students to get their take on which bathrooms are hidden gems, and the ones to avoid altogether.

Based on interviews, it’s advised to stay away from the Urban Life Building.

“The worst are the Urban Life Building bathrooms, Jesus those are so nasty,” student Audrey Dunkley said.

Not only are they apparently pretty gross, but it doesn’t

exactly give off cozy home bathroom vibes.

“Besides the 10th floor, Urban Life bathrooms are the worst,” student Gina Morales said. “They’re dimly lit, have an outdated and jail-like appearance with tiles, wall color, floors, sinks. But the 10th floor has a window, so there’s natural lighting; it also has a lot of bright artificial lighting, cute lighting fixtures, as well as bright and modern colors.”

Sparks Hall bathrooms draw some varying opinions.

Dunkley says any Sparks Hall bathroom ever is not the move. However, student Kai Thibodeaux found his go-to spot for privacy, which is on the 3rd floor of Sparks Hall, and student David Capes also agreed Sparks Hall is pretty nice, as well as any bathroom in Classroom South.

As far as State’s best kept secrets, students have found their personal favorite golden thrones throughout campus.

“Best bathrooms are in Arts and Humanities buildings for sure. So, if y’all gotta pop a squat, go there,” student Antonio Manning said.

Students seem to all agree that the entire complex of Park Place is the holy grail of private and luxurious

bathrooms. Student Peter Ninh says 25 Park Place bathrooms are always on point.

“That new digital media side of Park Place, those bathrooms are hella clean,” Dunkley said.

Student Brittany Turner also agrees 25 Park Place is the place to be because higher floor bathrooms seem to be better than most. Capes also agreed with this, especially when it comes to Langdale.

“Every bathroom in Langdale is horrible, except for some reason, the 5th floor is immaculate,” Capes said. “It’s super modern and clean and never really crowded.”

As far as the best-kept secret, which takes a treasure map to find, is in the Student Center.

“If you go into the nursing wing in the basement of the Student Center East or West, it’s so clean you could probably lick the floor and the toilet,” Dunkley said.

Students can now drop a load with relief knowing which bathrooms are safe, clean and secure and which ones are on the “to-be-avoided” list.

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“stump’s adventures” Comic by Esteban Rodriguez

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SPORTS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports

Seen as underdogs, men hold their own against Duke 74-63 loss against No. 4 team proves what State is made of

PHOTO COURTESY OF JORDAN KIDD

ANDREW FREEDMAN Staff Reporter

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oming in as 28.5-point underdogs, Georgia State was overlooked by many in Friday night’s showdown at Cameron Indoor Stadium against the Duke Blue Devils.

Duke, the No. 4 team in the nation, struggled to get off to a hot start.

Maybe it was the presence of the “Cameron Crazies,” the infamous fans who sell out Coach K Court every home game. Maybe it was the struggles of most Panthers’ from the field.

But one thing is for sure: Rob Lanier’s team came, saw and nearly conquered.

The first half opened up strong, as Georgia State seemed comfortable and quieted a loud crowd early on. Duke’s fast-paced offense seemed like something guard Kane Williams was ready for. He would finish the game with 16 points to go along with seven assists and three steals. On the other hand, he also turned the ball over four times, but he will surely improve as the season goes on.

Along with Williams, Corey Allen had a productive game, too. The redshirt junior had 20 points and posted the highest usage rating of any Panther. It’s become clear through the first few games that Allen will be given the green light often, as he took eight more shots than anyone else on his team (Williams finished with 10).

Tre Jones’ 31 points and Vernon Carey Jr’s 20-point, 13-rebound performances were simply too much for the two-time reigning Sun Belt champions to handle, though.

Beyond Jones’ 31 points, he ran the iron man: He played all 40 minutes of the game. “[Jones] had a great performance tonight,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He’s one of the best players in the country.”

For Georgia State head coach Rob Lanier, the loss was tough, but he felt his team executed well.

“I thought we carried out our game plans as well as we could have,” Lanier said after the game.

As was mentioned in my preview of this game last week, it was important for the Panthers to get off to a hot start.

“Our message to our team was that there was going to come a time we’re last in the first half or some point in the second half where we were going to have to deal with some real adversity in this building,” Lanier said.

After a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes, the two teams went into the locker room at halftime neck and neck, with Duke holding a 36-34 lead.

It was an inefficient one for Duke, to say the least. They shot less than 40% from the field and went 3-14 from three-point range.

But then, the tables turned and Duke reminded the 9,314 people in attendance why they are a soon-to-be top 3 team in college basketball. They were hungry from the moment they came out in the second half. At one point, the Blue Devils used a 13-0 run to pad the lead 53-40.

While the aforementioned Carey and Jones had phenomenal games, they didn’t get much help on the offensive end. Aside from those two, the next highest scorer was Joey Baker, who played 15 minutes and made two of his three

shots within a minute in the second half. The only other player to score over five points was freshman guard Cassius Stanley (2-for-12 from the field), who had seven.

Senior forward Jack White was a key presence in the second half. He was an example of someone who led by doing little things. Rather than throwing flash passes or taking tough shots, White played exceptional defense and rotated well on screens.

In the end, the Blue Devils won simply with rebounding and their head coach is well aware of that. When the Panthers look at the film, they’ll know they should’ve had it. Duke didn’t look like a No. 2 team on paper, they just had a couple of good players bail them out.

“Adversity came and we didn’t handle it quite as well as I would’ve hoped,” Lanier said. “I thought that was really the story of the game.

They got some really good players that made some good plays.”

The Panthers made the same amount of shots (25) as the Blue Devils, but on 13 fewer attempts from the floor. What’s more, it was Georgia State who was more efficient from the free-throw line and three. They shot 41.7% from three to Duke’s 25%.

“Tonight was a good opportunity for us to learn what we’re made of,” Lanier said after the game. “It gives us something to learn from and build upon.”

While the gut-wrenching loss is one that the Panthers want to move on from, they won’t have much time. Sunday’s matchup ends their weekend road trip in Washington, D.C, where they’ll take on Mac McClung and the Georgetown Hoyas at 7:30 p.m.

PANTHERS BATTLE IT OUT IN D.C, BUT LOSE TO GEORGETOWN The loss capped off a promising yet frustrating weekend on the road

By Andrew Freedman Sunday night, similar to Friday night’s matchup against Duke, saw the Georgia State Panthers hold their own but eventually fall to the Georgetown Hoyas, 91-83 at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. Mac McClung was unstoppable, scoring 25 points on an efficient 6-for-12 shooting, while big man Omer Yurtseven had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Needless to say, Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing got strong games from his two studs.

The Panthers know this one got away from them, but Rob Lanier praised his men.

“I’m proud of my team,” he said. “We just gotta get back to work and continue to get better.

For the Panthers, they made their shots once again. The team shot 48.3% from the field and 38.5% from three, but ultimately lost because of their fouls.

The team’s 32 were an alarming amount and the Hoyas took full advantage.

The scoring was led by Corey Allen, who finished with 21 points. Josh Linder finished with a doubledouble, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

His aggressiveness on the glass was clear from the get-go. With Joe Jones III sitting much of the game, Linder played a huge role on the offensive end.

For the Panthers, it will only get easier, as the hardest part of their schedule will see them face Prairie View A&M on Friday night at 7:00 pm.

For further coverage and analysis of this game, head over to our website: georgiastatesignal.com

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Aris Briggs: From Memphis to Atlanta The junior forward has had a love for soccer since the beginning MICHAEL CUNEO Staff Reporter

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n a brisk night in late October, the Georgia State men’s soccer team faced off against the UAB Blazers. Junior striker Aris Briggs was already having an impressive season, leading the team in goals and most games with multiple goals.

Briggs slashed the ball into the back of the net three times on the night, as he dictated the flow of the game with his swift yet steady control over the ball that he used to mesmerize the opposing defense.

“I got to play [soccer] every day during the summer. I would be in the streets from sunup to sundown.

It’s just always been a big part of my life.”

— ARIS BRIGGS Junior Soccer Forward

“Just keep scoring” are not only words that Briggs lives by but are also an embodiment of the exciting style of play that the 23-year-old from Memphis, Tennessee brings to every match.

For Briggs, soccer was instrumental throughout his childhood, as his father’s passion for the game morphed into his own obsession.

“My dad played soccer his whole life, and from the time I could walk, I’ve had a ball at my feet,” Briggs said. “I was consumed by it.”

Briggs was born in Memphis, Tennessee, a city that he calls most famous for being the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

Despite this, it was outside of the U.S. that the future Georgia State striker would fall in love with soccer.

Brigg’s mother is Bosnian, and as a result, he spent many of his early summer years playing soccer in the streets of the southeastern European country. It was in Bosnia that

Briggs’s passion for the game flourished and where the lifelong pursuit of playing at the next level started.

“I got to play [soccer] every day during the summer. I would be in the streets from sunup to sundown,” Briggs said. “It’s just always been a big part of my life.”

The countless hours playing soccer as a youth and his high school career at Christian Brothers High School were beneficial starting places, but they couldn’t have possibly prepared Briggs for what was to come next.

After graduation, Briggs decided to leave the U.S. and pursue a soccer career in Germany. The move would prove challenging both on and off the pitch.

“I was playing against grown men in Germany, which was different,” he said. “I was kind of spoiled as far as my parents go taking care of me. Going over there and having to go to the grocery store and shop for myself and do my own laundry, I was kind of thrown into the deep end. I learned a lot; I grew a lot as a person.”

Briggs called his two-year journey in Germany one of the most challenging he’s had so far, but that he doesn’t regret any of it and that it has made him a better player.

A nagging injury, lack of playing time and some homesickness led Briggs to move back to Atlanta, where his family had been living since his sophomore year in high school.

Deciding to play at Georgia State was an easy decision for him, as it was one of the closest schools to his family and the Atlanta vibe encompassed one of his hobbies: making music.

However, playing on the collegiate level would prove challenging for the forward, as he took a two-year gap after high school to play in Germany. As a result, he wasn’t able to play in the NCAA in his freshman year of college.

“The first year I had to sit out. I’m only getting three years of eligibility,” Biggs said. “I talked to coach [Brett Surrency] the first semester, and I was like, ‘Is there any way I can practice with you guys or workout?’ He said that there wasn’t.”

There was, however, some positive news for Briggs, as he was able to participate in the Georgia State walk-on tryouts.

The bad news was that no player had ever made the team in school history from a walk-on tryout.

Despite sitting out an entire year and facing extremely slim chances of making the team, Briggs was able to impress Georgia State coaches enough to earn a spot on the roster.

“I had to earn my spot and earn my place on the team,”

he said.

Finally, with his family by his side, and a city that he was familiar with, Briggs was now in a position to succeed, and that’s precisely what he did.

During the 2018 season, Briggs played in 20 matches, scoring a team-leading six goals, three of which were game-winners.

The Panthers were also able to win the Sun Belt Conference and advance to the NCAA tournament, something Briggs said was one of the most rewarding experiences he’s had at Georgia State so far.

“The guys grew to trust me and I gained confidence from my coaches,” he said. “It was a good opportunity for me to grow as a player and as a person.”

The best was yet to come for Briggs, as the 2019 season would see the junior truly breakout, scoring a Sun Belt leading 16 goals and six matches with at least two or more goals.

Briggs would also be named Offensive Player of the Year, as the Panthers broke a school record by remaining lossless throughout the first nine matches of the year.

Briggs praises his teammates and their chemistry, as it’s played a crucial role in the team’s success this season.

“I just think we have a really close group of guys,” he said. “Everyone plays for each other, and we get along really well together. I think that goes a long way.”

Briggs, who will play one more year for the Panthers as

“I had to earn my spot and earn my place on the team.”

— ARIS BRIGGS Junior Soccer Forward

he becomes a senior in 2020, says that the team has lots of young talent and a bright future.

“I think Georgia State has a promising future,” Briggs said. “Most of our guys are sophomores and freshmen, and I’m happy to be apart of it. Hopefully, we’ll keep making some history.”

For the Grind City native and his fellow teammates, the hope is that the best is yet to come, as the Panthers will look to use his talents for as long as possible.

Men suffer 6-5 championship loss in penalty shootout

Panthers came short on second straight SBC title after missed PKs MICHAEL CUNEO Staff Reporter

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he Georgia State men’s soccer team fell 6-5 to Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt Conference tournament finals Sunday. It came down to penalty kicks in deciding the champion of the Sun Belt Conference as 110 minutes of play resulted in a deadlock 1-1 draw.

Eighty-seven minutes ticked off the clock before Matthew Fearnley scored the opening goal as he blasted a shot into the top right-hand corner of the goal.

Just when the Panthers thought they had earned a second straight SBC title, the Chanticleers scored off a corner kick in the final minute of regulation. The corner kick landed at the feet of a waiting Chanticleer attacker who was able to score an easy goal as keeper Paul Tyson couldn’t react fast enough.

The drama wasn’t over yet as the Panthers appeared to have scored the winning goal just seconds into the first period of overtime before having it waived off for being offsides.

Both teams were unable to score for the remainder of overtime, throwing them into a penalty shootout.

The Chanticleers missed their first penalty kick but stayed alive as the Panthers missed their second attempt at goal.

A major shock came when senior Frank Rosenwald missed his PK as his shot bounced off the crossbar.

Rosenwald was noticeably upset after the shot as he held his hands on his head before jogging back to his teammates in dismay.

Coastal Carolina then hit the next penalty, winning them the match.

In a game that remained tied for most of the afternoon, the Panthers saw a sensational season come to an unfortunate end. And although the loss was devastating, the Panthers achieved one of the best seasons in school history.

school record of seven games without a loss as they went 6-0-3. The team dominated with their quick style of play that saw plenty of high-scoring games.

HERE ARE FOUR THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT THIS SEASON:

SURRENCY COLLECTS 100 Head Coach Brett Surrency earned the 100th win of his career at Georgia State this season. Surrency was just the second coach in school history to achieve the feat as he joined Scottie O’Neil.

SCHOOL RECORD The Panthers began their season breaking the previous

BRIGGS AT HIS BEST Aris Briggs broke out this season for Georgia State as he booted an SBC-leading 16 goals and played several games with multiple goals. The best performance for Briggs came against UAB as the junior recorded a hat trick.

SHUTOUTS GALORE The Panthers recorded a school-record eight shutouts this year as goalkeeper Paul Tyson turned in impressive performances. An experienced backline and an offense that maintained possession helped Tyson achieve the record.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

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‘Thanksgiving is good and all, but I love basketball.’

What the holiday season means to the men’s basketball team AVERY WIGGINS Staff Reporter

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hanksgiving Day is on Thursday, Nov. 28. The Georgia State men’s basketball team presents a pretty unique dilemma for this Thanksgiving holiday since they play a game the day before. On Nov. 27, they play a home game against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte at 2 p.m.

The home game will come after a five-game road trip that includes games against Duke, Georgetown and even Prairie View A&M in Texas.

Making it home for Thanksgiving will be a complicated case for six players that do not hail from the state of Georgia. These players are Justin Roberts (Indianapolis, Indiana), Jojo Toppin (Brooklyn, New York), Corey Allen (Ypsilanti, Michigan), Joe Jones lll (Buffalo, New York), Jalen Thomas (Detroit, Michigan) and Eliel Nsoseme (Kinshasa, Congo).

Allen said that since he won’t be able to make it home in time, he will be picked up after the Charlotte game by his aunt who lives in South Carolina to go eat with her and her family.

“I love playing basketball, so it doesn’t matter to me,” Allen said. “Thanksgiving is good and all, but I love playing basketball.”

Plenty of players and coaches will be able to make it home for Thanksgiving, however. Junior guard Kane Williams, who is from Douglasville, Georgia, will have family over from Kansas, where his mother is from, and North Carolina, where his father is from.

Assistant coach Jarvis Hayes, who also lives in Georgia, plans to spend Thanksgiving with his family and friends at his home.

Everyone will have a traditional Thanksgiving Day. They will eat a big dinner, which includes turkey, collard greens, mac and cheese, sweet potato pie, cranberry, chicken, dressing and much more. They’ll also be watching sports on that day, especially professional football and basketball.

“My Atlanta Falcons plays the professional football team from Louisiana,” Hayes said. “Their name seems to always escape me!”

All of these guys consider Thanksgiving to be a time of

ILLUSTRATION BY MONTE LOWERY

the year for family, togetherness, food, sports and, overall, just being thankful for everything that’s in your life.

“Be thankful that we have the people that are in our lives and being able to eat at the same table and everyone being

alive and well,” Williams said. “It’s just a blessing itself.

Thanksgiving, we use that day to be grateful for everything we have and the people we have around us.”

Standing out and spreading the word

The Rollergirls embody acceptance and women empowerment KRISTY RIVERA Staff Reporter

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ommunity, acceptance and women’s empowerment are all core values that perfectly encapsulate what the Rollergirls of Georgia State University truly represent and stand for in a way that makes them one of the more unique groups on campus.

The team is relatively unknown to most students around campus, and that comes as a result of being fairly new since it was not officially chartered until fall 2018 by players Alexis Robinson and Ruby Vaughn, who go by “Chip” and “Lucky Harms,” respectively. The two previously played together and shared a common interest in forming a team at Georgia State that could better adapt to students’ schedules.

The process has not been an easy one, as finding new recruits can be a bit of a challenge.

“The biggest difficulty is that it is an alternative sport that is not well known,” Chip said. “And as a result, it’s difficult to convince students to join because of fees and expenses to practice and play in our facility.”

These struggles have definitely been a work in progress to solve, according to co-captain Olivia Khuri, who goes by “Wednesday.”

“We put up flyers around campus all year, put out information about interest meetings and events we have on campus,” Wednesday said. “We also try to table on campus when we can, and I also try to share with as many people as I can.”

While the recruitment process will need time, the early struggles to find new players has not set the team back when it comes down to gameplay and spreading awareness for the sport on the collegiate level.

These significant strides were in fact showcased earlier this year in their bout against Georgia Tech where they were able to put all of their work from practice into play.

This bout helped bridge a connection between both teams and push toward growing representation of the sport amongst college students.

Bouts (games) play a crucial role in the sport but are often another tedious task to put together, as they require funding and volunteers to be executed effectively. Once completed, the satisfaction of playing for the team is like no other for Chip.

“Once it’s all put together it’s satisfying to see all of the hard work we put in to make it happen,” she said. “And

having players say they benefited from playing makes it gratifying as well because there aren’t many sports for nonbinary [people].”

Spreading awareness is crucial to the team, especially as they plan bigger events to unite collegiate teams across the nation for the first national collegiate bout, which Chip will host.

“I will be hosting the first national collegiate game to gain exposure and get more schools and teams on board,” Chip said. “So far, we have contacted Georgia Tech, UGA, [Appalachian State], Arizona State and 5C roller derby.”

The team represents so much more than just exposure for the sport. Forming a community of acceptance has also become crucial to the team, as most teammates identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community. As a result, a sense of safety and understanding have become a part of the team’s culture and played a role in the decision to not transition the team towards being co-ed, a sentiment described by Wednesday.

“A lot of our members are queer and identify with the LGBTQ+ community,” she said. “And we also welcome nonbinary individuals, and that makes it hard to include men because it can feel as if it is almost [they’re] invading that space in a way.”

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Ellington plays on torn ACL, and Panthers fall 56-27 The defeat was overshadowed by Ellington’s emotional decision to play ANFERNEE PATTERSON Staff Reporter

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n a highly anticipated game for the Georgia State Panthers, their 56-27 loss to the Appalachian State Mountaineers ended their chance at a Sun Belt title and halted their four-game home winning streak in front of the Georgia State Stadium faithful.

The Panthers came into this game knowing what the Mountaineers were capable of, as they were 8-1 on the season and had defeated two Power Five teams, including South Carolina. The nationally-ranked Mountaineers, minus their defeat to Georgia Southern, have been nothing short of dominant this year.

With major injuries to Ed Curney, Remy Lazarus and Sam Pinckney, who was out with a foot injury, the Panthers knew other players would have to step up.

For quarterback Dan Ellington, he left last week’s game against the University of Louisiana at Monroe with a torn ACL. That did not stop him from suiting up and playing in the Panthers’ first top 25-ranked matchup in school history. It was an emotional process, but the senior did it for his team.

“I kept telling the guys I was going to play,” Ellington said.

The senior has no plans to call it quits, as the team enters a critical period of the season, seeking the elusive seventh win to all but seal a spot in a bowl game.

“Yes, I’m going to finish the season out,” Ellington said when asked about playing the rest of the season.

As the game began, the Panthers set the tone and came out firing.

Ellington connected with receiver Devin Gentry on a fouryard touchdown pass to lead 7-0 early.

The Mountaineers responded as receiver Corey Sutton caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Zac Thomas, tying the game at seven. Sutton was simply unstoppable, as he finished the game with eight catches for 173 yards and three touchdowns.

From that point on, the Panthers put on an explosive offensive clinic, as they looked to finish the first quarter on top.

Running back Destin Coates broke loose for a 67-yard touchdown run to push the lead back to seven (14-7).

Defensive back Chris Bacon added to the lead, picking off Thomas for a pick-six. The Panthers lead stood at 21-7 with 1:38 left in the first quarter and the crowd was very much into the contest.

The Mountaineers never panicked, though. Instead, they put on an offensive clinic of their own.

Before the end of the first quarter, Thomas found Sutton again on a 20-yard touchdown pass, narrowing the Panthers’ lead to seven.

On the ensuing offensive possession, Thomas powered into the endzone from three yards, tying the game at 21. The quarterback’s performance was dominant. Apart from the pick-six, he finished with 256 yards and four touchdowns through the air, while adding 52 yards and another touchdown on the ground.

The defense got in on the action as well. This time, defensive back Shaun Jolly picked off Ellington for a 30-yard pick-six, giving the Mountaineers their first lead of the game at 28-21.

As the second quarter came to a close, the Mountaineers added another score with 22 seconds left in the first half.

This time, receiver Darrynton Evans caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Thomas to lead 35-21 going into halftime. Suddenly, the crowd inside the stadium, outside of the boisterous Appalachian State bleachers, was dead silent.

Most of the students cleared out.

The second half was all about the Mountaineers.

Evans ran in from 29 yards with less than six minutes to go in the third quarter to increase the Mountaineers lead to 21.

Sutton caught another pass from Thomas, this time from 27 yards for another touchdown to extend the lead to 49-21.

Mountaineers running back Raykwon Anderson added another touchdown from five yards to increase the lead to 35 and cap off the 49-0 run.

The Panthers scored late with a rushing touchdown by running back Tucker Gregg to finish the game on a high note. Cornelious Brown took over for Ellington in the fourth quarter and put together a couple of solid drives.

“As disappointed as I am talking to you about the outcome

Dan Ellington sits sideline during Saturday night’s loss against Appalachian State.

of the game, we all witnessed something that was incredible,” head coach Shawn Elliott said with tears in his eyes. “For a man to have a torn ACL and come out and do what he did [is] truly remarkable.”

So what did we learn?

PANTHERS SUN BELT TITLE HOPES ARE FINISHED

This was an ugly loss to a great Mountaineer team, but more importantly, this loss hurts the Panthers’ chances of competing for the Sun Belt title. The loss to the Warhawks the week before did not help either, but now any chance of lifting the conference’s ultimate prize is as good as gone.

Appalachian State will likely win the division and have a chance to seal their spot in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

HAVE WE SEEN THE LAST OF DAN ELLINGTON?

Many people will admire Ellington’s effort and willingness to play in this game after suffering a torn ACL. Although the

MATT SICILIANO-SALAZAR | THE SIGNAL

Panthers came up short, many will wonder if he will hang up his cleats for the rest of the season to return 100% healthy.

After the game, Ellington said that he intends to finish the season but only time will tell as the Panthers finish the last two games.

One cannot fault Ellington’s desire to play for his team, but once he sits down in favor of Brown, surgery would likely be the following action.

THE NEXT TWO GAMES ARE CRUCIAL FOR THE FUTURE

The Panthers are two wins away from breaking a school record with wins. They will have to get the win against South Alabama and travel to Statesboro to battle the Georgia Southern Eagles. The most important game is the rivalry game against the Eagles, and it can dictate how the future of Georgia State football will look.

While 6 games make the team bowl eligible, it does not guarantee anything. A seventh or eighth win would ensure the Panthers finish this historic season on top.

to-do

my notes

tuesday

wednesday

thursday

friday

saturday

sunday

monday TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

THE SIGNAL 19